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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. key — for a lock
  3. key — in music
  4. ground — crushed
  5. dip — to sink
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. tear — from crying
  8. key — the most important part
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. rock — music
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. ground — a position
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. tear — from crying
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. tear — to rip
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rock — a stone
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. ground — the earth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com